Hawkesworth, John; James Cook.

[Atlas to] An Account of the Voyages Undertaken by the Order of His Present Majesty for Making Discoveries in the Southern Hemisphere.

London: W. Strahan and T. Cadell, 1773. Second edition. Hardcover. An unusual folio atlas to accompany Cook's first voyage. The watermarks, composition, presentation and binding indicate that this was done contemporaneously with the release of the official account. The plates are full size, with very large margins, most unfolded. The large maps have many fewer folds than usual. With minor exceptions, they are in very good condition.

There are many highlights in this important voyage. The magnificent large single fold map of New Zealand is the first accurate map of the country. Other highlights include the print of the Endeavour beached on the Queensland coast, the first image of the kangaroo that Europeans experienced, the first accurate map of the East coast of Australia and the map of the Straits of Magellan, which was unfinished when the first issue of the publication was released. It appeared in the second issue, of the same year.

The paper appears to be Dutch. There are two different watermarks, one of which is an LVG mark conforming with Churchill #434, which establishes it as an 18th century paper that appears with Gerrevink and Villedary watermarks. The other watermark is a domed building with a long series of letters. The original endpapers are composed of green, yellow and red matte swirls.

The prints are printed on laid paper in both a medium and heavy weight paper, some with tissue guards. Some prints are tipped onto album sheets, some full page. Tiny light penciled numbers are on the lower right corners of impression mark, mostly consecutive, some looking altered, although no evidence of plates being removed. There are a total of 47 maps and plates, numbered 1-52.

The atlas is in its full brown period calf binding, boards bear gilt dentelles on all edges with gilt anchors in the corners, the decorated spine rubbed. The partial label reads [C]APTAI[N] COOK'S [FIR]ST [VOYA]GE.

The map of New Zealand is very striking. The extensive coastal detail and the topography of New Zealand are beautifully defined. The map is engraved by John Bayly, the engraver of the earliest printed map showing Cook's discoveries. In 1772, by order of Joseph Banks, he engraved "A Chart of the Great Pacific Ocean as described by Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander in the Year 1772". In one of the rarest of Cook associated books, "Astronomical Observations, Made in the Voyages which were Undertaken... for making Discoveries in the Southern Hemisphere", London 1788, there is a map of New Zealand with the identical style border of italic longitude and latitude figures. The map itself has considerably less detail than the chart issued with Cook's first voyage.

There are a variety of engravers (W. Whitchurch, J. Russell, Isaac Noüal, J. Hall, T. Bowen, J. Gibson, JB Cipriani, Bartolozzi, E. Rooker, James Roberts, W. Woollett, J. Cheevers, John Ryland, I. Bayly).

These maps and prints illustrated the official account of Cook's first voyage, in which he discovered and explored New Zealand, the east coast of Australia (naming it New South Wales) and the Society Islands. Cook's voyage was designed to observe the transit of Venus across the sun from Southern Hemisphere, determine the distance between the sun and the earth and continue Byron's exploration. The narratives include Byron's voyage to the Gilbert & Tuamotu Islands, Wallace's discovery of Tahiti & Moorea and Carteret's discovery of Pitcairn Island after his separation Capt. Wallis. Usually the maps and prints are folded and inserted in the quarto text volumes.

There are three maps and two plates lacking, four of which are added loose from other copies. These plates are Map Charles Saunders Island; Map Pitcairns Island; Map Otahiti; Plate 19 Endeavour River; Plate Bread fruit. The only plate lacking is plate 21 Otahiti.

An intriguing atlas with an as-yet untold story. The watermarks and composition indicate that this was done contemporaneously with the release of the official account. Item #29437

Price: $15,000.00